Test Bank For Microeconomics Principles and Applications 6th Edition Hall Lieberman 1111822565 9781285119434

Test Bank for Microeconomics Principles and Applications 6th
Edition Hall Lieberman 1111822565 9781285119434

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CHAPTER 2—SCARCITY, CHOICE, AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. When opportunity costs rise as more of a good is consumed, the production possibilities frontier
will be concave (bowed out) with respect to the origin.
a. True
b. False
ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy
NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic STA: DISC: Scarcity, tradeoffs, and opportunity cost
TOP: Society's Production Choices KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension
2. By better utilizing existing resources, an economy can produce at a point outside of its
current production possibilities frontier.
a. True
b. False
ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy
TOP: Society's Production Choices KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge
3. The production possibilities frontier is useful for demonstrating both scarcity and
productive inefficiency.
a. True
b. False
ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
TOP: The Search for a Free Lunch KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge
4. An economy's production possibilities frontier is fixed in the long run.

a. True
b. False
ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy
5. If capital is not being used efficiently, an economy cannot be operating at a point along its
production possibilities frontier.
a. True
b. False
ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy
Figure 2-1
6. Figure 2-1 illustrates the trade-off for a particular student between time spent studying per week and
income per week from working part-time. What is the opportunity cost for this person of moving
from point a to point b?
a. $5 of income per week
b. $10 of income per week
c. two hours of studying per week
d. $10 per hour of studying per week
e. $20 of income per week
ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
TOP: Society's Production Choices KEY: Bloom's: Application
7. Figure 2-1 illustrates the trade-off for a particular student between time spent studying per week and
income per week from working part-time. What is the opportunity cost for this person of moving
from point b to point a?
a. $5 of income per week
b. $10 of income per week
c. two hours of studying per week
d. $10 per hour of studying per week
e. $20 of income per week
ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
8. Figure 2-1 illustrates the trade-off for a particular student between time spent studying per week
and income per week from working part-time. If this student does not study at all, how much
income can they earn?
a. $0
b. $40
c. $80
d. $100
e. $120
ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
9. Production possibilities frontiers are typically concave (bowed out) from the origin because
a. of the law of supply
b. there is usually a one-for-one trade-off in resources used in production
c. economies of scale enable firms to reduce the average costs of production as output rises
d. the opportunity cost of a good rises as the quantity of the good produced increases
e. resources are often left idle in the firm
ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
10. Combinations of goods on the production possibilities frontier

a. are unattainable without additional resources
b. can be produced using currently available resources and technology
c. reflect minimum normative value allocations
d. will meet society's needs but not its wants
e. are attainable only through international trade
ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
11. Combinations of goods outside the production possibilities curve

a. are unattainable given society's technology and resources
b. are combinations that have already been consumed
c. go beyond basic necessities
d. result from involuntary unemployment
e. are the result of economic recessions
12. If the economy is producing a combination of goods inside its production possibilities frontier, then
a. workers are on vacation
b. a significant number of workers have little education
c. some resources are being wasted
d. technology must improve before output can increase
e. the opportunity cost of producing more output is greater than the value of the
additional output that could be produced
ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Moderate
Figure 2-2
13. Assume that U.S. agricultural land is used either to raise cattle for beef or to grow wheat. Figure 2-
2 represents the production possibility frontier for beef and wheat. Between points F and G, the
opportunity cost increasing wheat by two bushels equals
a. 0.25 million pounds of beef
b. 1.75 million pounds of beef
c. 0.125 pounds of beef
d. 8.0 pounds of beef
e. 0.5 pounds of beef
2 represents the production possibility frontier for beef and wheat. Production at point H is
a. unattainable given currently available technology and resources
b. attainable by more fully employing already available resources
c. attainable by using better technology which is already available
d. attainable if beef production drops to zero
e. attainable if all available resources are used to produce wheat
2 represents the production possibility frontier for beef and wheat. What is assumed constant as the
economy moves from point F to point G?
a. both d and e
b. the money supply
c. consumer tastes and preferences
d. the level of currently available technology
e. the amount of available resources
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As we proceeded nearer the coast, we found by the HAIRDRESSING
style of hairdressing among the women that we had come
into the territory of a different tribe to that amongst whom we had been
travelling. Many of the young women had a singular but somewhat
elegant style of coiffure. It was done thus: the hair was plaited in very
fine braids, and then twisted into thin flat circular coils of from two to
two and a half inches in diameter; these were symmetrically arranged,
one overlapping the other, in two rows, the upper one completely
encircling the head from the forehead to the back of the neck, and the
other ending below the ears. These young girls really looked well, for
they had the appearance of being well dressed. The women here were
more fully clothed than those of the Tanàla; the skirt of fine mat is worn
here, but there is more of it, and hemp cloth seems in more common use.
The country became flatter, undulating, but with no prominent rising
grounds. The vegetation also was quite different from what we had
become accustomed to during the last four days. There were no more
bamboos, hardly any traveller’s trees, but large numbers of single trees
or small clumps of them. These were chiefly the adàbo, a species of
Ficus, a tree with massive smooth trunk and light brown bark; they have
a much more rounded and shapely outline than the forest trees, and give
the scenery quite an English appearance. But the presence of an
occasional fan-palm or cocoanut-palm lifting their tall plumes aloft soon
dispelled the illusion. The villages, too, became numerous, and many of
them are built five or six together—that is, in lines of as many, only a
short distance between them.
AF R
Immense arums (vìha) are in the foreground, and reflections of Travellers’ trees are seen in the
water
We had a curious congregation on the Sunday at one of the two

villages where we spoke to the people, of whom a good many collected
together. But as heavy showers came on, most of our auditors were
standing under the elevated rice-houses (tràno àmbo), as we also were.
Still we were able to speak a few earnest words to them. Almost in the
midst of our speaking, the old chief of the village came up to give us—a
bottle of rum! and a fowl. The former of these presents, as well as others
of the same kind, were, as soon as darkness set in, carried outside, and
poured on the ground as the best way of disposing of their contents. We
were glad to find that the Taimòro, among whom we had now come, did
not, like the Tanàla, kill children born on unlucky days, but by some
ceremonies and offerings avert the evils supposed to be connected with
them.
A week’s journey from Ivòhitròsa brought us to a Hova GREAT ARUMS
military post again—viz. to the town of Ambòhipèno,
which is only a few miles from the mouth of the Màtitànana river, and is
the central one of a line of three villages. Here we had a hospitable
reception from the governor and his officers, as well as from the
congregation and its pastor. Although the sea was still some miles
distant, we could distinctly hear the roar of the surf some time before
reaching Ambòhipèno. On a voyage to the seaside, which we made the
day after our arrival, we had a fine large canoe which had more sharply
pointed stem and stern than in those seen in Imèrina. We were struck by
the great arums (vìha) growing in thick masses along the banks in the
water. These were from twelve to fifteen feet high, with thick fleshy
stems and leaf-stalks, lily-like leaves, between two and three feet long,
and magnificent white flowers, with a scarlet pistil. The fruit is
occasionally used by the natives as an article of food. We picked up
some good shells (Turritellæ, Cypræa, etc.) on the seashore, as well as
corals, seaweed and sponges. Like almost every river on the east coast,
the mouth is closed by a sand bar, until the rains of the wet season fill the
river so full that the bar is broken for a few weeks, and then the south-
east winds and currents close it up again.
The greater part of two days were spent at Ambòhipèno in services
and school examinations, which latter were especially interesting and
satisfactory. We were amused by the decoration of the pulpit in the native
church, which was rather extraordinary. It was a high box-like affair, part
of the front being occupied by a picture of a European ship, the other
part by a church with a tall tower and spire; while over these was a text
(in Malagasy), “Says the owner of this house, Fear”; although it would
be difficult to find the passage in this exact form. These objects, together
with birds perched on trees, made a curious mixture of subjects for pulpit
decoration.
In the narrow lanes near the village we passed great BUTTERFLIES
numbers and many varieties of butterflies in a few
minutes’ ride. Judging from what we saw, an entomologist would find a
rich harvest in the Taimòro country. Dr Vinson, a French naturalist who
came up to the capital in 1862, says: “The habits of the lepidoptera are
much affected in Madagascar by atmospheric changes. In the misty
mornings everything sleeps or hides itself under the damp foliage, but as
soon as the sun shines out, the forest, the footpath, the beds of the
torrents, are peopled with bright-coloured and light-flying butterflies.
They give themselves up to all kinds of frolic with a wanton joy; they
court, they pursue, they fly, interlacing and eddying in their flight in the
air like the brilliant flakes of a coloured snow.” In travelling up through
this eastern forest a few years later, but in the hotter season of the year, I
was struck by the number and variety of the butterflies which crossed our
path. There was the rather common one of greyish-green with dark
markings, the blackish-brown one with two large blue spots, the widely
distributed warm brown one with black-edged wings, the pure white one,
the white with orange edges, the white with black edges, the white with
small black spots near the edge of the wings, the small yellow species,
the small buff one, the white with crimped edges, the minute brown and
blue, and many others. In damp places, a cloud of the smaller yellow and
buff kinds may be often seen sipping the moisture.
While staying near the forest I was several times struck by the curious
formation of the wings of one of the smaller species of butterfly. The
insect in question is of plain inconspicuous colouring, chiefly shades of
brown, and when at rest sits with the wings erect. The noticeable point is
that there are several strongly marked and dark-tinted processes from the
hinder part of the wings, which resemble the head, eyes and antennæ of a
butterfly, so that when at rest it is very difficult to say which is the head
and which is the tail of the insect. The tail markings and points are so
much more strongly emphasised than the actual head and antennæ, that it
is only when the wings slightly open that one is undeceived. Mimicry of
one insect by another, and mimicry of leaves, grass, etc., by insects, are
of course well-known facts, but I do not remember to have seen any
similar instances noticed of resemblance between the different parts of
the same insect; but may not the reason of this mimicry of the head by
the tail be of some service in directing the attention of birds and other
enemies to the less vital part of the butterfly’s structure? It is evident that
the hinder portion of the wings might be snapped at and broken off, and
yet no serious injury be done to the vital parts of the insect. However this
may be, the point appears to me to be worth noting down as a curious
fact.
Talking with the people in the evening, we found we ARAB INFLUENCE
were in one of the districts where the Arab influence must
have been very strong in former times. They are called Zafin Ibrahim
(descendants of Abraham), and told us they were connected with the
Jews. There is no doubt, however, that the Arabs had anciently an
important settlement here, and to some extent taught the use of Arabic
letters and literature; but being isolated from their fellow-countrymen
and co-religionists, they gradually became absorbed in the native
population. It is probable that many of the chiefs of the south-east tribes
are of Arab descent, and so are often lighter in colour than the mass of
the people. An intelligent young man gave me a paper containing all the
Arabic characters and many of the syllabic sounds, with their equivalents
in Malagasy. He had, about six years previously, copied out for M. A.
Grandidier, who was then exploring the coasts of Madagascar, a number
of extracts from native Arabic books of prayers, genealogies, and
sorcery. This young man’s father, then dead, was one of the ombiàsy or
diviners, and his books of charms and incantations, being supposed to be
connected with idolatry, were destroyed at the time of the burning of the
idols in 1869. A few years after our journey, two of the Bétsiléo
missionaries, when making an evangelistic tour among the south-east
tribes, obtained some pages of manuscript from this neighbourhood.
These were apparently written in Arabic; and on being submitted to an
expert in that language, were pronounced to be extracts from the Koran,
evidently copied by someone who did not know Arabic, and so were full
of errors; these quotations were no doubt used as charms and
invocations. (I may here notice that, very recently, copies of the
Malagasy scriptures have been boiled by the native diviners, and the
water sold as a very powerful charm!)
Being near the sea, we had opportunities of seeing SEA-BIRDS
many birds which are oceanic in their distribution, among
which are the frigate-birds (one species), and the tropic-birds (two
species). The former are true pirates, living almost in dependence upon
other fishing birds, whom they force, when these are weaker than
themselves, to give up the fish they have taken. But they do also fish for
themselves, darting down upon the surface of the water. The white
tropic-bird is also an expert fisher, plunging sometimes to a great depth
after its prey. They remain all night on their nest, leaving it at sunrise to
fish in the open sea. After heavy storms the frigate-bird is occasionally
seen quite in the interior, being apparently driven inwards by the
violence of the wind.
Of the sea-birds proper, there are about a score kinds frequenting the
coasts of Madagascar, including those widely spread and powerful-
winged species belonging to the terns, the noddies, the gulls, and the
petrels. Very little, however, has been noted here as to their habits, and
they probably differ little, if anything, from their fellows which are
found all over the world. One of the terns comes up into the interior, and
has been shot in Imèrina, and so also has one of the gulls; another is
common on the Alaotra lake in Antsihànaka.
[29] I am glad to say that our visit was a means of calling attention to the
needs of the forest tribes; and that evangelists have been stationed for many
years past among these people, who are becoming enlightened and
Christianised.
CHAP T E R XX
AMONG THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES
F
ROM the Hova military post at Ambòhipèno, my companion and I
made our way southwards, or rather first to the south-west,
intending to visit the congregations at the three or four other
important places in this district, as well as some of those in their vicinity.
This part of Madagascar is a comparatively level or undulating country,
extending for many miles between the forest-covered mountains and
highlands to the west, and the ocean to the east, and only about three
hundred to four hundred feet above sea-level. The native inhabitants
were conquered—often with much cruelty and treachery—by the Hova,
about fifty years previous to the date of our visit, but the cruelties of the
wars carried on by the armies of Radàma I. and Rànavàlona I. were not
forgotten. Over large districts, all the male population whose heads were
above the armpits of the soldiers were ruthlessly shot down or speared,
and the women and children taken as slaves, so that a large proportion of
the slave population of Imèrina were descended from the tribes in these
south-eastern districts. Since then, the people quietly submitted to the
superior power; but these military posts were still maintained with
governors, officers, and a small force of soldiers; and at most of them
there was a considerable display of military authority, the gates being
guarded, and the drum beaten at regular times every morning and
evening. With one notable exception, we were everywhere received with
the greatest kindness and respect. Abundant presents of food for us and
our men were brought wherever we stopped; every facility was given us
to speak to the people, and we were helped in every way to prosecute our
journey.
The country between Ambòhipèno and Màhamànina was varied by
low hills in all directions, and patches of wood, the traveller’s tree
appearing in great numbers. The fruit of this beautiful tree was seen very
conspicuously, forming three or four clusters of sheaths, about a dozen in
each, much resembling the horns of a short-horned ox. These project
from between the leaf-stalks, two in full bloom, and the other two
generally dying off, or shedding the seeds, or rather the seed-pods. These
are oval in shape, about two inches long, and yellow in colour,
something like very large dates. These, when ripe, open and show each
pod dividing into three parts, each of which is double, thus containing six
rows of seeds about the size of a small bean. But what seems very
curious is, that each seed is wrapped in a covering exactly like a small
piece of blue silk with scalloped edges. I could not get these, however,
without some difficulty from the ants, which swarmed all over trunk,
leaf-stalks, and leaves, and resented vigorously any intrusion into their
domains.
At Màhamànina we found old friends in the governor A LARGE
and his wife. The làpa or government house was the GOVERNMENT HOUSE
largest and finest house I had ever seen in Madagascar,
except the chief palace in the capital. It was three storeys high, entirely
of timber, with stout verandah posts and very high-pitched roof; and
everything here, gateways, guard-houses and stockades, was of the most
substantial character, and made of fine massive timbers. After two days’
stay we proceeded farther south, and at the village where we encamped
for the night we noticed a new style of coiffure among the women. Some
of them had their hair done in two rows of little balls, while behind the
head there was a piece of hollow wood ornamented with brass-headed
nails and fastened into the hair. In this they kept their needles and other
small property. Beads also were a good deal worn, and they had the
lòndo or square mat on the back. At one village the young women wear
round the breast a broad band of neatly woven straw, ornamented with a
variety of patterns in different colours. It was rather difficult to
understand the talk of the people; the nasal n, the peculiar intonation, and
the pronouns and adverbs being all different from the Hova forms, made
their conversation a puzzle to us. Some, if not all the people here, are a
Sàkalàva colony from the west of the island.
We came the next day to a very boggy and difficult EVIDENCE OF
rice-valley. Hereabouts the people make their vàlam- VOLCANIC
ACTION
parìhy, or low earthen banks between the rice-fields, with
a foundation of small stakes stuck in the ground, apparently to hold the
earth together, as it seems less tenacious and binding than that in
Imèrina. When a good deal of the earth has been washed away, it may
easily be imagined that it is not a pleasant thing walking along these
banks. During the afternoon we passed for some time over a slightly
hollow tract thickly covered with rounded lumps of dark brown rock
resembling slag or scoria, and full of holes like those produced by air-
bubbles when the mass was in a state of fusion. These were of all sizes,
from a yard or two to an inch in diameter, while the ground was covered
with rounded pebbles of the same material, of the size of small beans.
This must surely have been the bed of some ancient stream, long since
diverted into other channels by subsequent elevation of the surface. But
whence was this volcanic substance derived? For many miles westward
there seems no broken or rugged surface, nor anything to indicate
subterranean disturbance. Probably the great isolated mountain of
Ivòhibé, which we have seen for several days far away to the west, is an
extinct volcano, like so many hills farther north; and the ancient stream
has at some remote period cut through a dyke of lava and brought the
rolled and rounded fragments down its bed.
Walking about in the brilliant moonlight after our evening meal, in a
short time there was quite a crowd gathered together to watch the
extraordinary spectacle of two foreigners walking backwards and
forwards for no discoverable earthly purpose. After a little while we
stopped and began to talk to them, telling them of the old, but to them
perfectly new, story of the glad tidings, and of that “faithful saying”
which was worthy of their, and of all men’s, “acceptation.”
Travelling again towards the shore, we passed for some time through
country which was like a beautiful shrubbery, with low trees, amongst
which the vòavòntaka, with its perfectly globular green or yellow fruit,
the size of a large orange, was very plentiful and conspicuous. There was
also a tree, the karàbo, having enormous pods with seeds like beans, but
from two to three inches in diameter. We passed fresh evidence of
volcanic action in ancient streams of lava, with sand and dust from some
long extinct crater. Stopping at sunset at a village called Màhavèlona, we
found it, notwithstanding its promising name (“causing to live”), the
filthiest spot we had seen in all our journey, quite worthy of the name
given by a friend to a place he stopped at, of “the well-dunged village.”
We could find no space where the tent could be pitched, and so began to
look for a house. There was one in the centre of the village that looked of
fair size, but the difficulty was, how to get to it, for it was surrounded for
a considerable distance by a slough of mud and cow-dung that took our
men nearly up to their knees. Happily there were a few stout planks lying
near, and with these we made a causeway over the bog.
The following day, while waiting in the belt of wood THE TRAVELLER’S
TREE
bordering the shore, we had an opportunity of testing the
accuracy of accounts given of the water procurable from the traveller’s
tree, about which, although backed by the authority of Mr Ellis, and an
illustration in his “Three Visits to Madagascar,” I had always felt rather
sceptical, as somewhat of “a traveller’s tale.” In fact I had never before
seen the tree where plenty of good water was not to be had; but here
there was none for several miles except the stagnant, brackish and
offensive water of the lagoon. (Even my friend, Baron, says that the tree
is always found where good water is procurable.) But we found that on
piercing with a spear or a pointed stick the lower part of one of the leaf-
stalks, where they all clasp one over the other, a small stream of water
spurted out, from which one could drink to the full of good, cool, and
sweet water. If one of the outer leaf-stalks was forcibly pulled down, a
quantity of water gushed out, so that we afterwards filled a vessel with as
much as we needed. On examining a section of one of the stalks, a
hollow channel about half-an-inch in diameter is seen running all down
the inner side of the stalk from the base of the leaf. The large cool
surface of the leaves appears to collect the water condensed from the
atmosphere, and this is conducted by the little channel downward to the
base. The leaf-stalks are all full of cells and of water, like those of the
banana. After three hours’ walking along the shore in the heavy sand,
with a hot sun overhead, we were grateful to be able to draw from these
numberless vegetable springs, and we thanked God for the traveller’s
tree; we felt that its name was no misnomer. We afterwards found in a
village not far away that small water-pots were placed in a hollow cut at
the base of the leaves, so as to collect water for drinking and household
use.
T F F
T ’T
In some places they are quite a feature of the landscape
After five days’ journey from Màhamànina we reached AN UNEXPECTED

PROHIBITION
a village near Vangàindràno, another of the large Hova
posts, and about three hours’ ride from the sea. But here we met with a
new and unexpected experience, for we were prevented by the governor
from going farther, and in fact, all our men made prisoners and detained
in the fort for a couple of days, until we had agreed that we would not
attempt to travel farther southwards. He alleged that he was acting under
orders from the native government to allow no travelling south of the
Mànanàra river. Whether this was the truth or not, we never clearly
ascertained, nor any reason for such prohibition; but his whole action
was in such striking contrast to the courtesy with which we were
received everywhere else that it was difficult to believe he was not
exceeding his instructions, certainly in the harsh way in which they were
carried out. We had been repeatedly assured that there were no
difficulties in travelling along the coast and that the country was
perfectly tranquil, and that we could easily reach Fort Dauphine in a
week. However, there was no help for it; we had to abandon our hope of
seeing the congregations and people, as well as the country, to the south,
and on 11th July we turned northwards, “homeward bound.” On one of
the nights when we were thus stopped on our way, we saw what is not at
all a common sight—namely, a very well-defined and distinct lunar
rainbow. It looked pale and watery, however, quite a ghost of the
rainbow produced by sunlight. During many years’ residence in
Madagascar, I have only seen one on two other occasions.
On the sides of the lagoons and marshes may be found the curious
pitcher-plant (Nepenthes). It is a shrub, about four feet high, and its jug-
shaped pitchers, four or five inches in length, contain abundant water and
numerous insects. The pitcher with its cover are most remarkable
modifications of the petiole or leaf-stalk; and this plant, with a number of
others, reverses the usual order of nature, and instead of forming food for
animals, secures animal life, in the shape of insects, for its own
nourishment. A French writer has, not inaptly, compared the pitcher of
Nepenthes to the bowl of a German meerschaum pipe; and Mr Scott
Elliott says: “I found the pitchers to be usually from a third to half full of
the decomposing remains of insects. In almost every pitcher there were
live worms, apparently living on the remains. Among the insects I found
thirteen species of beetle, ten species of butterfly or moth, seven species
of hemiptera (aphides, water-beetles, etc.); four species of hymenoptera
(bees, wasps, ants, etc.), of which one was a sand-wasp, nearly an inch
long; twelve species of diptera (mosquitoes, flies, etc.), two
grasshoppers, two dragonflies, and one spider.” The water contained in
the pitchers apparently contains some acid or other solvent, by which the
insects are slowly digested by the plant; and from the above account it
will be seen what a great variety of insect life is entrapped, including
even the largest and strongest insects.
On one of the afternoons when we were detained near A SUGAR-CANE
Vangàindràno, hearing a sugar-cane press at work at one PRESS
end of the village, we went to look at it in operation. Like many others
we saw on this coast, it consisted of a long hollowed-out trough, one end
being left solid for a foot or two, thus forming a slightly convex surface,
with a channel cut on either side for the expressed juice to run into the
trough. Over this and across it was a rounded tree trunk, seven or eight
feet long, with three short handles fixed into it; this is turned backwards
and forwards over small pieces of cane placed on the convex surface, the
juice being expressed by the mere weight of the round trunk. The freshly
expressed juice makes a pleasant drink; after a day or two it begins to
ferment, and is then much like fresh cider; but it rapidly becomes too
heady and intoxicating. A good deal of tòaka (rum) is made, and is a
cause of much evil among the coast tribes; but the people here appear not
to understand the manufacture of sugar. Their still is as rude a
contrivance as their press; an earthen pot to boil the juice, and a piece of
iron piping fixed through a vessel of cold water so as to condense the
steam which forms the spirit.
The people in this part of the country, who are called Taisàka, all wear
mats, as do the Tanàla and the Taimòro. To fasten the mat sack about
their waists, they use a girdle of bark cloth. Some of this cloth (called
fànto) is made by stripping off the bark of certain trees, so that the whole
comes off in one piece, forming a kind of long bag, but open at each end.
Another kind is made in a sheet of about six feet long by four wide. It is
prepared by being hammered for a considerable time with a wooden
mallet, the face of which is cut in cross lines. This is chiefly women’s
work. Very few of the people had any garment made of woven cloth,
indeed they seem to have little, if any, knowledge of spinning or
weaving. On the other hand, they are clever in straw-work and in
manufacturing mats and baskets.
Their houses are very small, made of a slight TAISÀKA HOUSES
framework and filled in with the midrib of the leaves of
the traveller’s tree in the same way that the zozòro (papyrus) is used in
Imèrina, and looking almost exactly like zozòro. These leaf-stalks, which
are called falàfa, are fixed together on long fine twigs so as to make a
kind of stiff mat, the triangular stems easily fitting in alternately. These
mats are the ordinary mattress, and are used in various other ways. One
of them forms the door on either side of the house, being shifted to one
side or another as required, and is kept from falling by sliding within a
pole hung from the framework. The flooring, which is always raised
above the ground, is made of the bark of the traveller’s tree, pressed flat
so as to form a rough kind of boarding; while the thatch of every house is
the leaves of the same tree, which forms a neat and fairly durable
covering. Here also, as among the other coast tribes which we have seen,
the traveller’s tree might be called with equal or greater propriety, “the
builder’s tree.” The hearth is at one end of the house, in the centre, with a
strong square framework above it, having two or three rows of shelves.
The tràno àmbo, or elevated house for storing rice, seems common to
every tribe we have visited since leaving the Bétsiléo province. The
villages here are arranged in groups of from two to half-a-dozen in a line,
and with only a small space between each group.
The rice-fields in this flat swampy district have a very different
appearance to those in Imèrina or Bétsiléo; they are like immense pits, in
some places dug out to some depth in the sides of the low elevations.
The people do not transplant their rice, as do those of the central
provinces, but reap it where it has been sown. We continually came
across traces of volcanic action; ancient streams of lava, conical-shaped
hills and, on the coast, reefs of basalt rock, gradually being broken up by
the action of the waves. All this showed that the great groups of extinct
volcanoes in the central provinces had their counterpart in these southern
regions of the island. Another interesting fact was, that we found
unmistakable signs also of Secondary rocks here on the coast, in
stratified sandstone tilted up at a very high angle.
A day and a half’s journey from Vangàindràno brought A MILITARY
us to another Hova military post, a town called Ankàrana, ESCORT
which is situated on a ridge about four hundred feet above the general
level of the surrounding country, forming a striking feature in the
landscape. Ascending a slippery and steep road in the red clay, I found
myself at one o’clock on the top of the ridge and close to the stockaded
ròva, or Hova fort, a much larger place than I had expected to see, as
hardly anything of the town could be seen from below. Mr Street, being
ill with fever, had gone on before, while I brought up the rear. Coming to
the gate of the stockade, my men were about to take me in at once, but
the people near requested me to stop, as the officers were coming out to
escort me in. This I rather unwillingly did, as a very heavy shower came
on just then. Presently the rolling of drums announced their approach.
First came a file of soldiers, then a number of officers, then the
lieutenant-governor in palanquin, and then the governor in ditto, a little
active old man in regimental red coat and cocked hat. They all came
forward and shook hands, and evidently it was intended that the queen
should be saluted and polite speeches made; but the rain pelted down so
furiously just then that they thought better of it, and we made our way
through the double stockade into the Hova town with its lines of houses,
and then into an inner stockade enclosing the government house and
flagstaff and several large houses. We took shelter under the raised
verandah of one of these, while a dozen unfortunate individuals, soldiers
and petty officers, had to stand out in the pouring rain and “present
arms,” “support arms,” etc., and then, of course, came inquiries after the
queen and the great people at their capital.
The governor then led me into the temporary làpa, a large rough-
looking room, where was a table spread with dishes, plates, etc. He
apologised for there being no meal ready for us, as our coming was
unexpected, but wine and biscuits were brought and we drank the
queen’s health, and they drank ours, a flourish of music and drums
following each toast. This extreme politeness, so soon after the marked
discourtesy shown us at Vangàindràno, astonished and amused me not a
little. I was gravely consulted as to whether the royal flag might not be
hauled down, as the day was so wet; I accordingly graciously signified
my approval of their doing so. As soon as possible, I intimated that I
would like to go and see my friend and companion. The governor
leading the way, I was taken to a house at the far end of the enclosure,
where I found Mr Street in bed and very unwell. But the house was large
and dry, a fire was burning on the hearth, and we were glad to get our
wet things dried. Several of our men were also ill with fever, so I had my
hands pretty full with dispensing medicine and nursing. Besides this,
numerous callers had to be talked with and presents received.
A good part of the following day was occupied in A NOISY DINNER
conversation with the native pastors, examining the
school, teaching, singing, etc. But soon after four o’clock in the
afternoon the sound of music and drumming in the courtyard told us that
the time was approaching for the feast they were going to give us, and
presently the governor and all his people came to fetch us. My
companion was unable to go, but I was led by the hand and had to
receive all the honours. In the open central space all the military force of
the town, about five and twenty soldiers, was drawn up, and the royal
flag was flying. On one side the ladies, the wives and daughters of the
officers, were arranged, dressed in their best; on the other side were row
after row of pots with fires under them, where the feast was being
cooked. There was a terrible din of drumming and music going on. After
a prayer, salutes, speech-making, including a long flourish of our honour,
and presentation of another immense heap of provisions, I was again
taken by the hand, and led into the government house for the repast. I
should add that the governor also gave us ten dollars for vàtsy (food by
the way), counting them into my hand in English numbers.
The dinner was, I think, the longest, and certainly was A LONG MENU
the noisiest, entertainment at which I have ever assisted.
About a score of the officers were at the table, and seven of the ladies.
After a long grace from the pastor, dinner was brought in, and consisted
of the following courses:—1st, curry; 2nd, goose; 3rd, roast pork; 4th,
pigeons and water-fowls; 5th, chicken cutlets and poached eggs; 6th,
beef sausages; 7th, boiled tongue; 8th, sardines; 9th, pigs’ trotters; 10th,
fried bananas; 11th, pancakes; 12th, manioc; 13th, dried bananas; and
last, when I thought everything must have been served, came hunches of
roast beef! All this was finished up with coffee. By taking a constantly
diminishing quantity of each dish I managed to appear to do justice to
them all. Claret went about very freely, and at length some much
stronger liquor; and the healths of the Queen, “Our friends the two
Foreigners,” then those of the Prime Minister, Chief Secretary, and Chief
Judge, were all drunk twice over, the Governor’s coming last; all
followed by musical (and drum) honours. As already remarked, it was
the noisiest affair of the kind at which I have ever been present. There
was a big drum just outside in the verandah, as well as two small ones,
besides clarionets and fiddles, and these were in full play almost all the
time. Then the room was filled by a crowd of servants and aides-de-
camp, and the shouting of everybody to everybody, from the governor
downwards, was deafening. The old gentleman directed everything and
everyone, filled up everybody’s glass, and, in fact, filled up his own
more often than was quite good for him, so that he became a little
incoherent in the last toasts he proposed; so that I was glad when the
finishing one arrived, and I could take my leave after nearly two hours’
sitting. But I was not to leave quietly; again I was taken by the hand, the
big drum being hammered at in front of us all the way, and, followed by
a posse of officers and ladies, was escorted home by the governor. My
invalid friend could well have dispensed with the big drum; however,
being a little better, he and I managed to say a few earnest words to them
about “the praying”; after which they took their leave. I had afterwards
to pay quite a round of visits to our men who were poorly, some with
fever, others lame, with feet hurt with thorns, stumbling, etc.
It was fine on the following morning, and as my A MELANCHOLY
companion’s fever had left him, although he was still very PARTING
weak, we determined to get off; but first, there were more visits to be
paid, and more presents to be received. Mr Street left first at half-past
nine, but I waited until all the baggage was off, and then went to wish
our old friend the governor good-bye. But I was not to get away so
easily; I was again taken into the chief house, the claret was brought out,
and the Queen’s health and our own drunk with military honours. Then I
turned to say Velòma; but no, the vigorous old gentleman was going to
escort me out of town, and his wives were to accompany us. But some
time elapsed in seeking bearers for them, during which I had to go to the
lieutenant-governor’s and drink coffee. On returning to the courtyard I
found the governor putting a couple of bottles of claret and another of
rum into his palanquin, as well as glasses and cups. Sufficient bearers
could not be procured for the ladies, so we wished them good-bye, and
set off in the following order:—Soldiers, musicians, with drums,
clarionet, and violin; “ny havantsika ny Vazàha” (our foreign friend); the
lieutenant-governor; the governor; aides-de-camp, soldiers. And so
escorted, with the drums, etc., in full play, we marched out of the town. I
had supposed that as soon as we were fairly at the foot of the hill the
governor would take his leave, but he went on and on for an hour until
we came to a rapid stream, the Mànantsìmba. Here we halted; the claret
was poured out for more health-drinking, with musical honours; and then
the whole of the governor’s men were ordered to take me safely across
the river, which they did. From the opposite bank I bowed and shouted
my last adieux, and so parted from one of the jolliest old gentlemen I
have ever met with in my travels. It struck me as irresistibly comic that,
as soon as we had fairly started on our way from the river bank, the
musicians struck up a most melancholy strain. As my men said, the
governor appeared to be low-spirited at parting with us.
I must add a word or two more about this “fine old Malagasy
gentleman, all of the olden time.” It appeared that he had been governor
at Ankàrana for more than twenty years, and before then was lieutenant-
governor at Mànanjàra. We were somewhat shocked to find that each of
the three buxom ladies who accompanied him about was his wife, and
further, that he had another as well, whom we did not see. The pastor
told us that he had been admonished as to the impropriety of his conduct
in this respect, but he had been unable as yet to make up his mind which
of them to put away, and which to keep, out of the four. He seemed quite
a little king in the district he commanded, and our servants told us that he
was a most courageous old fellow, delighted to hear of there being any
enemies to be met with anywhere, and going off to fight them with the
greatest alacrity. Yesterday, when the feast was being cooked, he sat in
the courtyard, gun in hand, shooting first a fowl, then a pigeon, and then
a pig, all of which, in addition to what was already preparing, he ordered
to be instantly cooked with the rest. They also say that he is very rich,
owning five hundred cattle and two hundred slaves, and that he is always
most hospitable to all strangers. Certainly we found him to be so.
Besides the abundant kindness he showed us at Ankàrana, he sent with
us an escort and guides, twelve soldiers, two officers, and a drummer,
besides as many baggage bearers as we required to replace the men who
were ill.
We were interested to find that many of our bearers met with relatives
in these coast provinces. The mothers of several of them were brought up
from these parts as slaves, when children, in Radàma’s cruel wars. The
most remarkable circumstance was that our cook discovered that one of
the governor’s wives at Ankàrana was his mother’s sister. And at the
same place another of our men found that the chief people of the Taisàka
village were his mother’s brothers.
Our lodging on the evening of the day we left PRIMITIVE DISHES
Ankàrana was in another sample of the “well-dunged AND SPOONS
village,” although we procured a tolerably good house in it. While taking
lunch in one of the other villages, we noticed the primitive dishes and
spoons used by the people. The former consist of the strong tough leaf of
the pandanus-tree, which is doubled over at one end so as to retain rice
or liquid. The spoons are pieces of the leaf of the traveller’s tree, folded
up so as easily to carry food to the mouth. This pandanus has a fruit,
yellow in colour, and something in shape and size like a pineapple
without its tuft of leaves. When dry it is brown in colour, and each
hexagonal division when separated from the rest is like a tough wooden
peg, and utterly uneatable.
Outside a village called Iàboràno I noticed the first A FUNERAL
MEMORIAL
appearance of anything like a funeral memorial we have
seen since leaving Bétsiléo. This consisted of four poles placed in a line,
the two outer ones higher than the others, and the inner ones pointed in a
peculiar fashion. These serve the same purpose as the upright stones
called tsàngam-bàto in Imèrina. All through the Tanàla country and
along this south-eastern coast we have seen no graves or memorials of
the dead. I was told that each village has a large pit in, or on the borders
of, the forest, where the dead are thrown and are not covered with earth.
The corpses are wrapped in coarse matting made of rush.
CHAP T E R XXI
THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES
O
N the Saturday afternoon we reached Ambàhy, a large village not
far from the sea, with a ladoàna or custom-house. Here a
detachment of military awaited our arrival—viz. four officers
and two soldiers, but outside and inside the stockade rather more than the
usual amount of tedious ceremony was gone through, which was,
however, amusing as well, from the absurd costume of many of the
performers.
On the Sunday, as my companion was still unwell, I took the services
entirely. The church was in the village on the other side of the water, and
in going over to service I had a sail for the first time in a native-made
built boat. These boats are here called sàry, and are about thirty feet long
by eight feet beam, and easily carry fifty people. I examined with interest
the construction of the craft, for the planks, about eight inches broad,
were tied, not nailed together, by twisted cord of anìvona palm fibre, one
of the toughest known vegetable substances, the holes being plugged
with hard wood. The seat boards came right through the sides, so as to
stiffen the whole, for there were no ribs or framework. The seams were
caulked with strips of bamboo, loops of which also formed the rowlocks
for large oars of European shape. The ends of the boat curved upwards
considerably, and from its appearance it seemed likely to stand a heavy
sea with perfect safety. These boats are made for going out to the
shipping, for no dug-out canoe could live in the great waves constantly
rolling along these shores.
From Ambàhy northwards there stretches a coral reef at a mile or
two’s distance from the beach, a white line of surf constantly breaking
over it. Along this part of the coast the vegetation of pandanus is varied
by a number of the tall graceful filào-trees (casuarina), so common south
of Tamatave. It was dusk before all the baggage and our men were
ferried over a small river, and as I was the last I had a most unpleasant
hour and a half in the dark, floundering about in rice-fields and water, for
our guides lost their way, so that I thought we should have to take shelter
under some bush for the night. But at last we reached a good-sized
village; two of our men, however, got hopelessly astray and had to lie out
all night in the open. In the dark we several times thought we saw a
lantern coming to our aid, but it was only the beautiful little fireflies
dancing up and down in the bushes, a “will-o’-the-wisp” which deceived
us again and again. These flies do not give a continuous light, but one
which—like some lighthouses—is quenched every second or two, the
interval of darkness being longer than the time when the light is visible.
[30]
We were delayed on our journey one day by having to CANOE CHANTS

return and search for a man who had been missing for a
day or more. Leaving our stopping-place before six in the morning, I
took sixteen men, who were divided into three parties to go in different
directions. We did not find him, but discovered where he was, and left
him in charge of some Hova officers to be sent on after us. I had two
voyages over the Màtitànana that day; the morning’s sail was delightful,
the water smooth as a mirror, and with a very large canoe and eight or
ten paddles we moved rapidly over the glassy surface. My men began
and sustained for some time several of their musical and often amusing
canoe chants, in which one man keeps up a recitative, usually an
improvised strain, often bringing in circumstances recently happening,
while the rest chime in with a chorus at regular intervals, a favourite one
being, “E, misy và?” (“Oh, is there any?”). This question refers to
various good things they hope to get at the end of the day’s journey, such
as plenty of rice, beef, sweet potatoes, etc., these articles of food being
mentioned one after another by the leader of the song. A little delicate
flattery of their employer, the Englishman they are rowing, is often
introduced, and praises of his hoped-for generosity in providing these
luxuries for them, something in this style:
E, misy và? Oh, is there any?
E, misy rè! Oh yes, there’s some!
E, ny vorontsiloza, zalàhy, è! Oh, the turkeys, lads, oh!
E, misy rè! Oh yes, there’s some!
E, ny gisy matavy, zalàhy, è! Oh, the plump-looking geese, lads, oh!
E, misy ré! Oh yes, there’s some!
E, ny akoho manatody, zalàhy, é! Oh, the egg-laying fowls, lads, oh!
E, misy ré! Oh yes, there’s some!
E, ny vazaha be vola, zalàhy, é Oh, the very rich foreigner, lads, oh!
E, misy ré! Oh yes, here he is!
and so on, ad libitum.

In another song sung by men on this voyage, the chorus was, Mandàny
vàtsy, Toamasina malaza é!—i.e. “Consumes provisions for the way,
famous Tamatave O!”—while the recitative brought in all the different
villages on the journey from Tamatave to the capital, ending with Avàra-
dròva, the northern entrance to the palace yard. Our return voyage was a
rough one; there was a considerable swell, for the sea breeze had set in
very strongly, as is generally the case in the afternoon along the east
coast; and had I not had an unusually large and good canoe, I dared not
have ventured across the broad expanse of water near the mouth of the
river.
AM O (Angræcum Superbum)
The blooms are pure white, waxlike flowers
While waiting for the canoe that afternoon I was MAGNIFICENT

ORCHIDS
delighted to see the profusion of orchids along the shore.
I had, of course, often admired these on the trunks and branches of trees
on the coast; but, here, the magnificent Angræcum superbum was
growing by hundreds on the ground, on good-sized bushes, which
occurred in scores, the large waxy-white flowers all in full bloom. It was
worth a fatiguing journey to see such a wealth of floral beauty. Here I
may notice that another fine orchid, the Angræcum sesquipedale, is also
to be seen in flower in the months of June and July on this eastern coast.
It is not so numerous in blooms as the other species, but its large pure
white flowers shine out like stars against the dark trunks of the trees on
which it grows. As its specific name signifies, its remarkable spur or
nectary is nearly a foot and a half long, pointing to an insect with a very
long sucking tube in order to reach the honey stored there. There are
several other species of Angræcum found in Madagascar, but with
smaller flowers than the two just named. As Mr Baron remarks,
“Whatever else may escape the notice of the traveller, the A. superbum
forms far too striking an ornament to be passed by unheeded.” And I
think the same might almost be said of the sesquipedale; of this latter Mr
Baron says that it generally chooses trees which overhang the rivers or
lagoons as its habitat. I have, however, noticed it at some distance from
water.
Farther north along this coast there is a large proportion of trees of
considerable size, in addition to the pandanus and more shrubby
vegetation seen farther south. The latter also attain a much greater height
in the struggle to get up to the light amongst the crowd of other trees. In
one spot for some distance there was no undergrowth, but “a pillared
shade” of the slender trunks of the pandanus, while high overhead their
graceful crowns of long saw-edged leaves made a canopy impervious to
the sun. Among the larger trees one called atàfa (Terminalia catappa) is
prominent; in these the branches strike directly at right angles from the
trunk and then spread away horizontally for a considerable distance. The
leaves are spatula-shaped and from eight to ten inches long, and a large
proportion of them are always a ruddy brown or scarlet, giving a blaze of
colour. The tree is called also the “Indian almond,” and the kernel of the
fruit is edible. While waiting for a canoe, we walked two or three
hundred yards towards the outlet of a small river, and were startled by a
crocodile only a few feet in front of us, rousing himself from his nap in
the setting sunshine, and waddling off into the river.
About seventy miles north of the Màtitànana river we came to an
extensive lagoon stretching northward for several miles. This appeared to
be the first—from the south—of that remarkable series bordering the
shore and extending with but few breaks nearly to Tamatave, a distance
of two hundred and sixty miles (see Chapter III.). Along the northern
side of this lagoon are masses of lava rock, some of it in enormous
blocks.
We found here that we had reached another centre of THE TAIMÒRO
population, an important settlement of the Taimòro tribe; TRIBE
the principal chief, a very fine tall man, came to see us, and was
extremely polite and kind. We were amused to see his daughters, two
nice little girls, attended by all the other children of the village, who
were going through the peculiar monotonous native singing with
clapping of hands; while these two girls moved together slowly
backwards and forwards, and with a slow movement of their feet, and a
graceful movement of the hands, performed a native dance. They were
strikingly different from the other children in their dress, having scarlet
caps, with a long veil behind of coloured print, jackets of figured stuff
and a skirt of scarlet or a broad girdle of the same colour. Afterwards
they were mounted on the shoulders of two stout girls, who went through
the same performance with their feet, while the little girls moved their
hands and arms.
At a village where we stayed it was the custom that no bird or animal
could be killed for food except by someone belonging to the family of
the native king. This agrees with what is stated by Drury and other early
writers on Madagascar as to the customs of many tribes in the south-west
of the island.
On 22nd and 23rd July, Saturday and Sunday, we had AN OBJECT OF
two long and very fatiguing journeys, the more so as our WONDER
maps were of the vaguest description, and we could get no accurate
information as to distances or villages; rice for our bearers was not at all
easy to procure, and when crossing rivers, a single canoe for fifty men
and a quantity of baggage often delayed us very seriously. On the
Saturday morning we met a wheeled vehicle, the first I had ever seen in
Madagascar—viz. a cart drawn by yoked oxen; this excited much
wonder among our men. We had to cross rivers or wide lagoons five
times that day, so that late in the afternoon we still saw no stopping-
place. But as we understood that there was a small village two or three
hours farther on, and that the road was along the shore, we thought we
could not miss it even if it was late. So we went along the sands; the sun
set, and it grew dark, but there was no sign of any village; then the path
turned inland among the bush, where we went on feeling our way for
some time. But at last we got hopelessly adrift in the dense vegetation
and total darkness. There was no help for it but to retrace our steps to the
shore, which we did, not without great difficulty. It seemed highly
probable that we should have to spend the night under the trees, without
food, fire, or light, as our baggage had gone on ahead. Continually we
mistook the light of the fireflies for a lantern coming to our assistance;
but still going on we saw at last a light ahead, steadier and redder than
that of the fireflies. Then we lost it, but going on again we at length came
up to the embers of a fire lighted on the sand. Opposite was a path
leading up to four little huts, where most of our men had arrived, and
where we got better accommodation than the woods would have
afforded, although the huts were mere rough sheds of traveller’s tree
leaves. It was fortunate for us that we reached them, for heavy rain came
directly and continued all night. There was no rice to be bought; so our
men had to go supperless to bed, and we had very little to eat ourselves.
Some dozen or more of the men slept with us in our hut, as thick as they
could lie, and the other places were as full.
M M D
This consists of graceful movements of hands, body, and feet. Men and women never dance
together
The following day, Sunday, was a disappointing one, for we quite

thought in the morning that we were only two or three hours’ journey, at
most, from Màsindràno, where we hoped to meet with a good
congregation. But we had to travel for hour after hour, delayed in
crossing the lagoons in a vain search for food, and in other ways, so that
it was sunset before we crossed the Mànanjàra river, and after dark
before we at last reached the town. However, here we met with the
kindest welcome, had good houses put at our disposal, and there was
abundance of food for us all.
On the following day we left the seashore, along WHALES
which, first going southwards and afterwards northwards,
we had travelled for so many days. And here I may remark that dolphins
are often seen in the Madagascar seas, especially the small species called
Delphinus pas, which is frequently seen leaping, plunging and
swimming with astonishing swiftness and in large shoals. These animals
love to pursue the flying-fish, and in this chase they display
extraordinary dexterity. Two species of whale also frequent the seas
round Madagascar, but they are chiefly seen on the western side of the
island. The huge form of the cachelot or sperm-whale, with its
remarkably square head, looking as if it had been cut off right across,
especially when it turns to dive, as I have seen it, seems to have
impressed the imagination of the Malagasy, because when an earthquake
occurs they say, Mivàdika ny tròzona—i.e. “The whales are turning
over.”
After leaving the east coast we sailed up the broad river Mànanjàra,
stopping a night at another Hova military post, a large village called
Itsìatòsika. Here again we had great kindness shown to us by the most
polite and gentlemanly set of Hova officers we had ever met. For the first
day and a half our route lay chiefly up the valley of the river, over
undulating country; but during the next two and half days we had to
travel to the north-west, through the belt of dense forest covering the
lines of mountain which are the successive steps into the bare interior
highland. Through this rugged country, travelling was very difficult, and
the steep ascents very fatiguing. As we got up a thousand feet, there was
line after line of hill and mountain, all covered with forest, as far as the
eye could reach, to the north and south and west. Besides the ordinary
forest trees, there were great numbers of the graceful palm called
Anìvona, which, in the struggle for light and heat, here grows to a great
height. As we have seen in speaking of the old style of timber houses,
this palm was made much use of in their construction. There were
magnificent and extensive views from the higher ground; and
conspicuous for a whole day’s journey was a lofty perpendicular cliff of
bright red rock, rising sheer up many hundreds of feet from the valley
below.
A little before reaching the summit of one ridge we A HEATHENISH
heard a good deal of noise and shouting ahead of us, and FUNERAL
supposed that the Tanàla were dragging an unusually large piece of
timber. On getting nearer, we found fifty or sixty people, men and
women, and a number of men carrying something, which, coming closer
to them, we found was a child’s coffin, made of a piece of the trunk of a
tree hollowed out, and with a rough cover of wood fastened on with
bands of a strong creeper. This was being carried with a barbarous kind
of chant, but without the slightest sign of mourning on the part of
anyone. It was the most heathenish kind of funeral we had ever seen.
Among these forest people funerals are called fàndrorìtam-pàty (lit.
“stretching out of the corpse”), and it seems that the coffin is pulled
about first in one direction and then in another by the different parties of
those following it; and it is finally thrown into some hollow in the
woods. It was a saddening sight.
We found that we had come again among our old friends, the Tanàla,
for in their mats and undressed appearance, and their use of bark cloth,
the women in the villages were just like those we had seen from
Ivòhitròsa downwards.
Our second day in the forest brought us to a height of fourteen
hundred and fifty feet above the sea; and, notwithstanding our fatigue
from having to walk continually for several hours, we were charmed
again with the luxuriance of the vegetation. The anìvona-palms shot up
their slender columns, banded with lines of white on dark green to
heights of eighty to a hundred feet, and the traveller’s trees were as lofty,
in the fierce competition for life. The tree-ferns spread out their graceful
fronds over the streams; and the Vaquois pandanus carried its large
clusters of serrated leaves high overhead to get up to the light. In some
places the woods were very dense, and there was a green twilight as we
passed along the narrow path amongst the crowd of tall trunks. We were
struck by the intense silence of the forest; there was no sound of animal
life, and no voice of bird, or beast, or insect broke the oppressive
stillness. For six hours and a half we hardly saw a house except isolated
woodcutters’ huts; and we were glad at last to see the sparkling waters of
the Mànanjàra in front of us, and to find a village of twenty houses on its
banks.
Although in the cold season, which was the time of our THE CICADA
journey, the woods were very silent, they are not so at all
times of the year, and among the sounds of the forest we must not omit
one which, once heard, can never be forgotten—viz. the extremely shrill
piercing note of the Jorèry, a cicada, which makes the woods ring again
with its stridulous reverberations. If it should happen that two or three of
these little creatures are giving out their sound together, the jarring,
ringing noise becomes almost painful to the ear; and it is difficult to
believe that such a loud noise can be produced from the friction of the
wing-cases of such a comparatively small insect, for it does not exceed
an inch and a half in length.
On rainy nights a stridulous sound, but far less loud than that produced
by the jorèry, is heard in and near the forest, and is produced by a large
species of earthworm called Kànkandoròka. It somewhat resembles the
noise of a rattle, and is far from unpleasant to the ear.
Yet it would be a mistake to suppose that these THE SILENCE OF
comparatively silent woods are destitute of animal life, THE WOOD
and the stillness is largely attributable to the peculiar character of the
Madagascar fauna. Many of the lemurs are nocturnal animals and are
therefore not seen or heard in the daytime. Then again, the twenty-four
species of centetidæ are burrowing animals, and so do not often appear
in the open. And it is much the same with the sixteen species of rats and
mice, which live in the woods and on their borders. In confirmation of
the above remarks as to the animal life of the forest, it may be stated that
in the latter part of the year 1894, and the beginning of 1895, Dr Forsyth
Major, the eminent naturalist and palæontologist, lived for several
months collecting in the woods not very far from the route we followed
about eighteen years previously; and his specimens of recent mammals
amounted to no fewer than sixteen hundred specimens, which added
twenty species to those previously known. These were chiefly in the
tenrecs and the rats, but also included a new species of lemur. Some of
these forms were exceptionally interesting, one being aquatic and web-
footed; and others showed transitions from a hairy to a spiny condition in
closely allied animals, suggesting that the prickly state had been
gradually attained for purposes of defence. Several of the centetidæ, of
the genus Oryzorictes, feed largely on rice, as their generic name
denotes, and do much damage to the crops. This is equally true of the
indigenous rats and mice. We have seen how the forest and coast
Malagasy protect their rice stores by elevated houses, with special
precautions against these little marauders.
It should be added that Dr Major’s unprecedentedly large collections
would probably have been larger still but for the disturbed state of the
country at that time. It was during the early months of the French
invasion and subsequent conquest of Madagascar, when the feeling
against all Europeans was very strong; so that again and again Dr Major
was in considerable danger of his life. Besides adding so largely to our
knowledge of the living fauna of the island, he made large collections of
the sub-fossil fauna, in collections of the remains of the extinct æpyornis,
hippopotami, tortoises, crocodiles, and other animals, finding bones of
several of the smaller mammals which he afterwards discovered to be
still living.
AW A T N.W. M
She is in full gala costume

Test Bank For Microeconomics Principles and Applications 6th Edition Hall Lieberman 1111822565 9781285119434

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Test Bank for Microeconomics Principles and Applications 6th

Edition Hall Lieberman 1111822565 9781285119434

CHAPTER 2—SCARCITY, CHOICE, AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

4. An economy's production possibilities frontier is fixed in the long run.

10. Combinations of goods on the production possibilities frontier

11. Combinations of goods outside the production possibilities curve

We had a curious congregation on the Sunday at one of the two

AMONG THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES

After five days’ journey from Màhamànina we reached AN UNEXPECTED

THE SOUTH-EASTERN PEOPLES

We were delayed on our journey one day by having to CANOE CHANTS

and so on, ad libitum.

While waiting for the canoe that afternoon I was MAGNIFICENT

The following day, Sunday, was a disappointing one, for we quite

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